New Michigan law targets badly impaired drivers

Kalamazoo Gazette / Mark BugnaskiJim Altman, of Auto Tech Repair Center in Comstock Township, holds an ignition interlock device, which a driver must blow into in order to start their vehicle. If the device records a certain blood-alcohol level, the vehicle's engine will not start.

KALAMAZOO — In the past decade, the odds haven’t changed: If someone dies in a vehicle crash in Michigan, there’s a one in three chance alcohol is involved.

But supporters hope a new, stiffer drunk-driving law will reduce the number of severely impaired drivers on the state’s roads.

Under the law, which took effect today, first-time offenders who register a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of 0.17 percent or higher will face more jail time, a longer suspension of their driving privileges, higher fines and mandatory alcohol treatment. A driver is considered drunk and therefore subject to prosecution with a blood-alcohol percentage of 0.08, so the new law is aimed at drunken drivers with significantly higher levels of impairment.

A driver with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.17 percent would have significant deficits in judgment, motor control and reaction time and be at least 25 times more likely to be involved in an accident than a sober driver.

“They’ve separated out the first-time drunk driver from the first-time drunk driver with a high BAC,” Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Fink said of the new law.

COMPARING PENALTIES

Under new legislation that took effect today, first-time drunken drivers who register a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 percent or higher at the time of arrest will face stiffer penalties than in the past. Here’s a breakdown of the major changes.First-time offense (Blood-alcohol level less than 0.17 percent)• Jail: Up to 93 days.• Fine: $100 to $500.• License suspension: 6 months (eligible for restricted license after 30 days).• Community service: Up to 360 hours.

First-time offense (Blood-alcohol level more than 0.17 percent)• Jail: Up to 180 days.• Fine: $200 to $700.• License suspension:1 year (eligible for restricted license after 45 days with agreement to use alcohol-interlock device to drive vehicle).• Community service: Up to 360 hours.

State Rep. Bob Constan, D-Dearborn Heights, one of the law’s primary sponsors, said that while the number of fatal motor vehicle crashes involving alcohol has dropped in eight of the past 10 years, the annual percentage of those types of crashes — about 33 percent — has not changed. He also said that, in supporting the legislation, he and other lawmakers who backed it found “a lot of the more severe accidents” involved a motorist with a high BAC and a prior drunken-driving conviction.

The new law also requires offenders who want to drive on a restricted license to pay for the installation of an ignition interlock device, which a driver must blow into in order to start the vehicle. If the device registers a BAC of 0.025 percent or higher, the vehicle’s engine will not start.

Constan said he believes that requiring first-time drunken drivers with restricted licenses to use alcohol-interlock devices in their vehicles will cut down on the recidivism rate of drunken drivers and, in the long run, lead to a decrease in the percentage of fatal crashes in Michigan that involve alcohol.

“This gives them an avenue to drive with their vehicle properly equipped so we know they’ll be driving sober and not drunk,” Constan said.

Constan said similar high blood-alcohol level laws have been successful in other states such as New Mexico, which he said saw a decrease in motor vehicle accidents and recorded fewer repeat drunk drivers after passage of the law.

New Mexico’s law, according to information on the state’s website, instituted stiff penalties, including the installation of an alcohol-interlock device for a first-time drunken driver who registers a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher.

In Michigan, the state’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is supportive of the new law, but Executive Director Janette Kolodge said the agency is hopeful that the law will be amended in the future to lower the 0.17 percent threshold for increased penalties.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Kolodge said. “However, we don’t feel that the BAC levels are low enough.”

Constan said the law, when passed by the state House of Representatives, had a threshold blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent but that figure increased as part of the compromise process to get the legislation through the state Senate and then onto the desk of Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

“The law resulted the way it did to get everybody on board,” Constan said. “I’m satisfied with the result, and let’s just see what happens and how effective it is.”

Fink said police in Kalamazoo County handle between 1,000 and 1,200 drunken-driving cases a year, and that between 500 and 600 of those cases are handled by his office. The remainder are tried by local city and township attorneys, he said.

While he wasn’t able to provide figures, Fink said “a significant number” of the drunken-driving cases his office sees involve drivers who registered a blood-alcohol level that would meet the new law’s threshold.

Prior to the new law, Fink said first-time offenders in that category would have faced up to 93 days in jail, a fine of $100 to $500 and a 30-day wait before being able to apply for a restricted license. Under the new legislation, Fink said those offenders now will face up to 180 days in jail, $200 to $700 in fines, a 45-day wait for a restricted license — if they’re willing to have the alcohol-interlock device installed.

Fink noted that the new penalties are similar to what a defendant convicted of second-offense drunken driving currently faces under state statutes.

“I think the premise (of the new law) is good, but it’s new and we’ll have to see how it works in its application,” Fink said.